This is probably the definitive site on the subject of astrology. If you want a good laugh reading a bunch of easy digestible articles trashing stupid astrologers and their silly beliefs, you better look elsewhere. But for those really interested in the subject and have a lot of time, you might want to bookmark it: http://www.astrology-and-science.com/

If anyone wants to send me large diamonds, I will be quite happy to test their properties. The ability to be converted into large amounts of cash would probably be one of the first experiments, though I can always use more earrings :-)

To understand what Sagan is saying, you need to have watched Cosmos, as this video is taken from that 13 hour long documentary.

When he says 'connected' and 'deep', he is talking about the very fact that we are made from the materials that were.. lets say, regurgitated by long dead stars. We are made from the heavy materials they produced. That is why he says "We are connected, not in the trivial way that astrology brings, but in the deepest ways."

Its quite poetic when you think about. Astronomy determines we are made from the stars themselves, where as Astrology says that stars, thousands of light years away some how influence our personality.

Personally I disagree. I don't believe it's subjective 'drivel', in fact I think it shows the poetry of science, and its utter elegance. As Carl Sagan once said, 'We are made of Star stuff.'

You're probably not the romantic type. That is fine. Yet what Sagan meant of course is indeed that we share the components from the periodic table, which is not obvious or trivial in the least. But much more than that is implied. The fact that the Universe has the properties it has to be able to produce a periodic table and complex chemistry in the first place. Which also isn't obvious or trivial in the least. But beyond that. Way beyond that.

From a materialist-determinist, which is what most atheists claim to be, point of view, all the lives must, at least theoretically, be predictable. So why should it suprise anyone that there are indicators for predicting the course of events?

Stripped of all the hype and jargon, Astrology is pattern matching. Is it accurate? Only one way to find out. Study how the patterns are matched according to it, apply the technique to some well known people and their known life events and see if you find it a good enough tool to apply it to others.

As a sceptic who followed the procedure a few decades ago, I was quite suprised to discover that the technique I used (for there are several systems of astrology) did an excellent job. However, I lost interest in it, since it takes a lot of time and effort to take all relevant "effects" into consideration and make a prediction and there is nothing anyone can do to change it anyway.